WD97: Programmatically Unlinking Field Makes Word Stop

ID: Q179338

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to unlink fields in a document footer using the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Unlink Method, Microsoft Word may stop responding.

CAUSE

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

The following sample Visual Basic macro causes the problem described in the Symptoms section of this article to occur.

WARNING: Running this macro causes Word to stop responding.

   Sub UnlinkFieldsinFooter()
      ' Switch to document footer.
      If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial <> wdPaneNone Then
         ActiveWindow.Panes(2).Close
      End If
      If ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView Or _
      ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdOutlineView Or _
      ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdMasterView Then
         ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdPageView
      End If
      ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekCurrentPageFooter

      ' Select all text in the footer.
      Selection.WholeStory

      ' Loop through fields in selection.
      For Each afield In Selection.Fields
         ' If field type is a REF field.
         If afield.Type = wdFieldRef Then
            ' Unlink the field.
            afield.Unlink ' <--- Word stops responding at this line.
         End If
         ' Reselect all text in the footer.
         Selection.WholeStory
      Next afield
    Selection.Collapse     End Sub

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the following sample Visual Basic macro instead.

   Sub UnlinkFieldsinFooter()
      ' Switch to document footer.
       ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekCurrentPageFooter

      ' Select all text in the footer.
       Selection.WholeStory
       ' Loop through fields in selection.
       For Each afield In Selection.Fields           ' If field type is a REF field.            If afield.Type = wdFieldRef Then             ' Select the current field.               afield.Select              'Unlink the currently selected field.                Selection.Field(1).Unlink            End If          ' Reselect all text in the footer.          Selection.WholeStory          Next afield           
        ' Close footer return to document         ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekMainDocument    End Sub

REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for
               Applications

Additional query words: kbdtacode kbmacro vba hang hung crash crashed locks locked frozen freezes crashing quit quits stopped crashes auto lockup freeze break won't respond waiting near memory stops responding hangs lock up fail

Keywords          : kbdtacode kbmacroexample kbwordvba word97 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: April 9, 1999